Sweep Away the Ashes
by wishihadastrad
Summary: Yuuichirou reflects on Rei and Jadeite's romance, and what it has cost him.


Sweep Away the Ashes

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon in any way, shape, or form. No infringement is intended by this work.

SUMMARY: Yuuichirou reflects on Rei and Jadeite's budding romance.

Author's Note: I included salutes to two Rei x Jadeite fics I like. Can you find them? Oh, and please excuse my weird fusion of Japanese and English...-isms...

September twenty-second. Even now, this day never fails to bring me pain. I know most people think I'm just a big goof, some bum with too-long hair who crashed at a Shinto temple in a drunken stupor. Well...I guess I may have been a little buzzed. But when I saw Hino Rei-san that first time, the realization of what she was cut through the haze of alcohol like a whizzing arrow. She was my soul mate, my perfect match, my one true love.

And I lost her.

There was a time when I might have had a chance with her. I think Rei-san must have known how I felt about her (heck, anyone with eyes knew how I felt about her). Her wish was my command. After the crazy cosmetics lady incident, that mortifying misunderstanding about Haruka-san, and my attempt to boil Mamoru-san alive, Rei-san actually seemed to be warming up to me. A little bunny told me that she would often speak of "my Yuuichirou" and get jealous whenever Grandpa would use me as girl-bait.

That all changed the day HE showed up at Hikawa Jinja. Apparently, Grandpa had posted a "help wanted" ad in the Classifieds, so this Jed came to apply for a position.

I saw the way he looked at my Rei-san. I saw the sudden spark in his damnable blue eyes, the sudden flush in those haughty cheekbones, the imprint of sweaty hands on his new temple robes. Even worse, I saw an answering flame in her exquisite violet eyes, her rosepetal lips parted in a quick intake of breath. All they needed was pink candy hearts and bubbles floating in the background--it could have been a scene straight from one of Usagi-san's manga.

Everything went downhill from there. Don't think I didn't put up a fight for my love; I most certainly did! Yet, anything I could do, Jed would do better. On her birthday, I had planned to wake Rei-san up with a song I wrote for her. Unfortunately, she mistook my love ballad for the squall of a dying seagull and yelled at me to "put the poor thing out of its misery." Jed, on the other hand, surprised her with a roomful of Casablancas and a pair of shiny red star earrings. Even Grandpa liked Jed better than me! He could sweep cleaner and faster, swing from trees like a bleedin' monkey, and (most importantly) could attract more girls than I could.

Although it killed me to see Rei-san so happy with another man, I could never do anything to jeopardize her happiness. Jed was nudging me out of her life, slowly but surely. She began chasing him with her broom, and wearing a red silk ribbon in her hair instead of my hakama cord.

September twenty-second, the change of seasons, she began wearing his ring.

That same day, I packed my bags and left Hikawa Jinja, this time for good. I knew that if I stuck around to see their wedding...well, there's only so much a man can take. For her sake, I pretended as if I had grown tired of the ascetic temple life, and was ready to find new adventures. I wasn't surprised when she didn't believe me. She knew. Holding my Rei-san for the last time, I felt her whisper against my chest:

"Gomen nasai, Yuuichirou. Gomen nasai."

I fled down the stairs as quickly as I could, knowing that if I looked back I'd never be able to tear myself away.

I still think of Rei-san often. She must be happy, which gives me just a little comfort, bittersweet as it may be. If I'm honest with myself, I can see that they were soulmates too. You know, I think maybe Rei-san's soul was just so big and wonderful that it took the souls of many men to make a proper half for her. Jed was just the lucky one that her heart recognized as kindred.

Maybe someday I'll be able to go back to Hikawa Jinja and visit Rei-san and that Jed. I can see a little girl, an adorable chibi-Rei-san, running with open arms to greet her Uncle Yuuichirou. Someday. Maybe someday.

For now, I think I'll just drift a while and try to sweep up the ashes left by the fire Rei-san lit in my heart.

_owari_

A/N: Salute #1 was "A Roomful of Casablancas"; Salute #2 was "Change of Seasons." Both are great Rei x Jadeite fics!


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